Kansas student body prez trying to cut funding to student paper

http://www.kansan.com/news/2010/mar/10/proposed-cuts-would-limit-kansans-budget/?news

He says the Student Senate giving money to the Kansan creates a conflict of interest because the Kansan covers the Student Senate.

Discuss.

 

Sounds like the Kansas needs to get some dirt on the student body prez in a hurry.

 

Discuss what? This happens more often than you think. Kids are idealistic. Especially those in student government.

Not to be cynical, but just have Turner Gill or Bill Self appear in support of the newspaper. They'd probably do it. And that would be that.

 

It is a conflict of interest, but a lot of college newspapers feed off the school teet.

 

Non-college papers routinely cover bodies they have financial ties to, they just disclose those ties in the story and carry on objectively. And I'm pretty sure people can figure out on their own that the school paper has ties to the student senate. Who else at the uni. is going to cover the student senate, anyway? In the interest of having any coverage at all, it sounds like a necessary evil, unless there's some specific incident that's happened.

Since the student body president doesn't mention any specific incidents or wrongdoing or anything, I'm going to assume he's got a bone to pick or thinks it'll be something nice he can put on a resume. That said, maybe the paper should refrain from endorsing a student body pres. candidate in the future.

 

A conflict of interest...KU could <i>dissolve</i> the student government next week and it wouldn't make one whit of difference.

 

The kid also left himself a logical loophole big enough to drive a truck through.

All the Daily Kansan has to do is stop covering student government.

 

When feeding off the school teat there arises the chance for or appearance of conflict.

Jayhawks have teats, huh? Somewhere under those feathers?

 

Good to see the kids today can be as stupid and self-absorbed as my co-workers and I were 20 years ago when we tried to take down the student Senate, and they tried to take us down in response, and it was on like Donkey Kong. I'd like to meet the person who made it through a four-year cycle of college without this happening.

 

Regular newspapers get thousands of dollars in advertising from local governments for legal ads and they sleep just fine.

This guy really doesn't want to mess with THAT paper. Don't know if I've ever met a Kansas alum in the biz where one of the first things I knew about them was where they went to school. They are a proud lot.

 

Threats like these are why the student paper I worked for went financially self-sufficient years ago. The funding was only a small percentage anyway, so it was a logical progression. Then the student politicos tried to get the paper thrown out of its offices in the student union building, until they learned it was part of the building's charter and couldn't be annulled.

Somebody needs to remind KU student politicos about the need for a free and unfettered press ... Although it sounds like they know already.

 

Now THAT would be funny. And no reader of the Kansan would give a shit, either.